Monday, December 17, 2007

here come the earth intruders / we are the paratroopers

First it was the polar bears...
Chagrin and Bear It
Melting sea ice makes polar bears starve, drown

Travel agents hawking trips to the Arctic have been boasting lately of an increased likelihood that tourists will see polar bears -- because starving bears are encroaching on human settlements to scavenge for food. Polar bears have traditionally used ice floes to hunt seals, their favored prey -- but Arctic ice, in case you hadn't heard, is melting. According to new research in the journal Arctic, the spring hunting season for polar bears has been reduced by nearly three weeks in some places, causing female bears to gain up to 175 pounds less than normal. Far from enjoying their slender physiques, the skinny bears are more susceptible to disease and have diminished reproductive capabilities, and their cubs are less likely to survive. In 1980, the average weight of an adult female polar bear in western Hudson Bay was 650 pounds; in 2004, it was 507 pounds. The Arctic study warns that the risk posed to polar bears by global warming is potentially irreversible. How's that for a Monday downer?



Now it is the walruses...

I Was the Walrus
Walruses trampled as a result of climate change -- no, seriously

Here's a climate-change impact you don't think about every day: trampled walruses. When walruses get tired of swimming, they clamber onto sea ice to rest. With ice in increasingly short supply above the Arctic Circle, walruses are huddling on shore in extremely high numbers. The tusky animals are prone to stampede at the appearance of a polar bear, hunter, or low-flying airplane, and those stampedes are proving increasingly deadly as the walruses cluster in denser groups. More than 3,000 are estimated to have been trampled to death by their panicky peers this past year. Boo boo g'joob.

source: Associated Press


And some people are too lazy to even recycle....

Friday, December 14, 2007

Sidenote: I used to live alone. I never got lonely. Now Kellie is out of town and the apartment is scary! Only children: bred to live in solitude until their imaginations drive them mad!

Thursday, December 13, 2007

The leaders and the best

I'm taking a break from my intense studying to report on how incredible and noteworthy my University is. There are many famous people who hail from Michigan. Sure, the first folks to come to mind might be Gerald Ford, Michael Phelps, or the guy who did Darth Vader's voice... But, I'm here to mention two others who have graduated from this fine institution, the first whose birthday is the day following mine, and the second whose birthday precedes mine by a day.





Dr. Theodore John "Ted" Kaczynski, M.S., Ph.D Mathematics
a.k.a. The Unabomber, Prisoner Number 04475-046.

He was the hobbit and mail bomber extraordinairre who was the victim of one of the FBI's most expensive goose chases ever. After killing 3 and wounding 23 victims while providing false clues for authorities, he was finally sentenced to life in prison when his own brother turned him in. Disagreeing with modern society, thus targeting predominantly scientists due to the progressive nature of research, he composed a manifesto entitled "The Industrial Society and Its Future" that challenged the notion of the construct of our society and predicted it would collapse on itself within time. He tried to hang himself after he was caught, but that didn't work out so instead he's locked in jail forever.



Dr. Kevorkian, M.D. Pathology
a.k.a. Dr. Death

Medical ethicist and doctor of assisted suicide in Michigan (which, I should point out, is legal in certain contexts in the State of Oregon, I believe). He was only charged on one count of second-degree murder because he had his patients carry out their own demise in order to avoid this. But, on video tape for the court, he challenged the notion of classroom medical ethics (citing archiac and unjust laws) by giving the lethal injection to just one patient, who was in his final stages of ALS.

Kevorkian was sentenced to lots of jail time, but was released due to his own failing health. Of course, his medical license was revoked. But, he's still alive and occasionally doing TV appearances.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

i tell 'em all i want for chistmas is two gold front teeth and ten carat diamonds on a fat gold wreath

When I graduate and get another real job, I'm going to learn how to sew in my spare time. Then... then I will make myself a cape, and some dresses. I really want a kimono dress with a funky pattern.

Maybe someday I can be a normal person and not always have to wear a thousand layers, so I can wear more stylish clothing. I'm really rooting for this B12 and Iron regimen to take effect. I learned that a B12 deficiency creates problems with memory. Maybe that explains a few things about me...

Completely unrelated, I've been listening to a Detroit hip hop station (95.5) for far too long today. I am fairly certain that they are more repetitive than KDWB. Don't get me wrong, I love Alicia Keys, but I have heard this song ("No One") at least 6 times so far in the last few hours.

Another brief topic, I can't wait until Stardust comes out on DVD because a) I love, love, love Neil Gaiman, and b) I managed to miss seeing it in the theater.

Um, lastly... Why is Ludacris doing Christmas music? I do not approve.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Mamma, mamma I'm coming home....

One down, three to go...

I finished pathophys yesterday; now I'm devoting the rest of today to my HMP paper so that'll be finished. Epid final on Friday and biostat next Wed, then I will be homeward bound.

I love epidemiology. It's such a neat field, with numerous components. Yes, there's the usual infectious disease stuff, and cancer rates, and blah blah, but we had a lecture on the future of epidemiology and how it needs to become more socially-based. There's this balance that needs to be met concerning how people view themselves and reminding them that they are within a population. It made me thinking about universal health care and our legal system and what rights people do and do not have. For instance, in the United State, people are guaranteed the right to smoke a million cigarettes a day, but aren't guaranteed health care. Now, maybe this is a good thing -- people who make the effort to destroy their health maybe shouldn't be treated with the care and concern in a health setting that those people who eat well, exercise, and choose not to smoke and overly-consume alcohol. But, maybe this says something about the direction in which our country needs to find itself.

We don't have the rights to smoke pot or do crack (legally), yet it's okay to fill our body with the 40-some carcinogens in a single cigarette. Maybe that's something legislators need to consider while simultaneously considering human physiology and the effects on cigarettes in every single organ system within our bodies... From glaucoma to cardiovascular disease, these substances are not okay. Yet, our politicians consistently let those tobacco lobbiests pay them off to keep people smoking...

Yes, politics is complicated. It takes patience and baby-stepping to work toward any positive laws for society (yet, the second our president wants to take away our privacy rights because of a few terroristic threats, the Big Boys are all about it...).

Anyway, I guess my big thought it onto universal health care, which I think is a very important goal for our country. I think we all have the right to life (as was stated in our Declaration of Independence), and part of that is having the means to protect our lives. I would like to see laws passed that go on to protect our safety through health and environmental steps. This needs to happen QUICKLY, as there is more and more of a divide between rich and poor, the privileged and hose without. Perhaps the end goal is far from sight, but there are so many changes that could be made in the way our population lives.

My first proposal is adequate health education. The main target here would be school-children. I remember being in elementary school and learning to recycle and little health issues and thinking it was so neat. If kids can get interested early, it's possible that they can take these ideas home and engage their parents. They need to learn about living safely -- everything from practicing safe sex, washing their hands, and eating whole grains and vegetables, to recycling and not wasting energy. Health has so many factors -- personal, social, and environmental -- that it's necessary to educate children about these early so they can start making wise decisions for how they live their lives early.

Also, within education, parents need to be educated too. This can come from community-wide meetings and health fairs that are easily accessible to all, and especially those who would have access issues like the poor. Parents need to know exactly why certain things are bad for them and their children. I took pathophysiology and learned more than just "smoking is bad, mmmkay." I learned WHY it's bad and HOW it affects your body. Parents need to understand this about major risk factors -- diet, smoking, alcohol. It's really scary to think that even just one night of crazy drinking pays a huge toll on your liver. Some of these children are raised by alcoholic parents, or parents who smoke around the house. NOT OKAY. Even kids who don't like their parents much still take a lot of habits from the way they were raised and apply them to their own lifestyles.

Obviously, not just parents and children, but the general population needs to be educated. People need to step out of ignorance on health and health issues and learn what's going on with their bodies and what sort of diseases and illnesses they need to worry about. They also need to learn not to worry -- because I see that a lot of people run rampant with information if it's misunderstood and create a pandemonium of fear and outrage. Not okay. This is why health education needs to be integrated in a constructive way throughout communities, with educators coming in and really understanding a community's beliefs. People within that community need to be trained to be educators, too, so that they are accessible and approachable. There needs to be huge lines of communication.

I see that only when an extensive educational process throughout our entire country occurs can changes really begin to start to take place. Maybe around the this time is when a system for universal health care should be implemented... Because people will have more knowledge to treat themselves better.

Of course there are huge economic issues that will have to be taken care of, and it needs to be understood that the first generation or two using this health care system will be very expensive. But if the education keeps occurring and the health system really changes to benefit the total population (because, we're taught to concern only ourselves within the American society, so people need to understand that they are a part of a larger picture and need to take care of themselves and their brothers and sisters of the world), the health care system will become less expensive.

Along with this whole system, a series of progressive laws needs to be passed. i.e. The NYC ban of trans fats needs to become a country-wide ban; smoking in public establishments also needs to become this way... Laws that protect all citizens of this country need to be established.

I know, I'm not a policy person. People think that this is impossible to implement in a nation so big and backwards as ours. I agree that it will be hard, but why would we not even try? It will have its issues, but why not start with something do-able, like free health care access for all minors. Heck, those are the ones who are less likely to have started smoking and drinking anyway so their risk factors are primarily genetic and environmental, neither of which they can control!

There are more issues involved, and more disciplines to be involved. But, how neat to have a topic that seems so focused, yet is very broad. I hope that legislators get their heads out of their behinds and focus on more important issues for our entire society, instead of those that either only consider a few, or seem to consider only societies far away (not like I don't think aiding other countries important, but bombing them probably won't help so much...).

Anyway, tangent of the day. I better get to my paper.

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Friday, December 7, 2007

I'm a workin' man, with nowhere to go

I guess I think of the student unions as more of an undergraduate hangout and study place. I may have previously mentioned that I rather like the North Campus student union, Pierpont Commons, as well as the attached Duederstadt Center because a) open 24 hrs a day, b) cheap coffee, c) snacks are easy to purchase, d) lots of electrical outlets for plugging in my laptop, and e) comfortable seating areas. My SPH friends don't really hang out here because it's far enough away from the medical campus that it's inconvenient, but it's pretty close to my apartment.

Well, as a good little grad student would, I decided to come to Pierpont to have a crazy Friday night of studying. I walk in and immediately find my friend Ali sitting at a table, writing a paper. So, I open my laptop and get my study on with her. Not a half hour later does Joel walk in. So, now we have a table of three SPH folk, representing 3 of the 4 departments, sitting around studying and writing papers on a Friday night. It may not be a crazy drinking party, but it's certainly a crazy study party. Rock on with my pathophys!

Eat your heart out on a plastic tray

Frustrations!

As background, to register at Michigan, you can go in before your registration time and "Backpack" the classes you want to take, so then when your registration appointment occurs, you can more easily register by moving the courses from your Backpack into your actual registration.

That being noted, I have to take this course on viral and molecular lab techniques. When I placed it in my backpack, it was offered from 12-3 on Tues and Thrs. Fine. I found a neat Reproductive Epidemiology course to take immediately afterward to fulfill some credits. Upon my actual registration, though, the lab course was listed from 3-6 pm on Tues and Thrs. This upset me a bit, but I found an Infectious Disease Epid course to take during the afternoon on those days to fulfill a few extra credits, instead of the repro course. And everything was fine and dandy....

Until today. I was talking to my friend Greg today about our class schedule for next semester, since we're both in the same major. We were comparing schedules, so I logged on to look at my course listing. Guess what... the lab course is now offered from 12-3 on Tues and Thrs. Nifty. That's great, except the repro epid course that I was originally going to take is full.

Luckily, Greg mentioned that he's taking Cancer Epid in the same time slot. So, now I might be taking Cancer Epid instead of Infectious Disease or Repro Epid. However, I also found out that I can take Environmental Epid, because you don't have to have so many crazy prerequisites after all!

So... the cancer epid is going to give me permission to enter his course, and the environmental epid lady might too. So, now I have to make the decision: do I take a course that fulfills one of my core requirements (cancer epid), or do I take the class that I'm really interested in (environmental epid)...?

That is to be determined at a later date, I guess! Right now, I'm just happy to have worked out the kinks quickly enough to find another course to take.

Now back to the HW. My paper writing process is much slower than I expected.

Monday, December 3, 2007

Goodnight, Miss Mouse

My Mousey passed away today. She was laying in her favorite place, and my dad was right next to her. She went peacefully. And, really, though it's very, very sad because I've lost my "sister" cat, I am content that she went without pain, with loads of love, and in complete serenity. That's all any of us can ask when it's our time, or the time of our loved ones.

Sunday, December 2, 2007

We live and we die, we know not why / but I'll be with you when the deal goes down



The hardest part about being here is not being able to run home whenever something's going on. My kitty, Mouse, probably won't last through the day. She's been fighting and holding on all week, but has barely eaten a thing. It's suspected that her kidneys are failing...

I wish digital cameras were around when I first got her, so maybe I could have some pictures of our early years together. Mouse the Cat is a New Year's kitten, born January 1, 1990 (or maybe 1991). There aren't very many winter kittens, but I lucked out and found her after begging my dad to stop at the pet store in early March of that year. There she was, this gray skinny little thing, and I snatched her up and took her shivering body home underneath my jacket.

We moved to Mendota Heights in October, 1991, and she spent the first week cowering behind the toilet in the downstairs bathroom. Slowly, she began to explore, and now that house is home for her. She has "her" spots -- the wool blanket on the back of the living room couch, or the comforter placed on the desk in my dad's office -- that are covered in her gray cat fur now. Of course, if you're ever on the computer, she's got to be up on your lap and in your way! And, when I sat studying or reading or doing sudoku puzzles at the dining room table, I had to pull a chair up right next to me so she could hang out too. She was always happy enough even to have a chair pulled up next to you if she couldn't sit on your lap.

She's a good kitty. Occasionally she tests you by trying to get up on the kitchen counter when you're ignoring her and she wants some attention, but, for the most part, she's a pretty great cat. With every tear I ever shed, she'd be right there in my lap trying to comfort me. With every tantrum of frustration for homework or boys or whatever, she'd calmly wander into see what the fuss was about, then rub up against me to say, "Hey man, not worth it. Calm down!" She's always been my "sister."

I left for college and didn't see her every day anymore, yet every time I walked through that door, she was waiting to hang out. I used to stop by my parents' house and steal lunch often, and I'd almost always give her a few treats before I left just to ensure her affection was still mine. And it was.

Even as she's gotten older, she still has that playful kitten in her. Before I left for grad school in August, you could still get her to roll around in catnip and chase toy mice. She'd go through her crazy periods where she'd spazz out and run around the house, sliding on the wood floor and sometimes running into a wall.

I make fun of her meow, because she sounds like a little whiny lambkin -- so high pitched and piercing! This is how she woke my parents up every morning at 5 a.m., begging for food and attention.

But, all living things get old. Her coat has started to look worn over the past few years. She's been eating more, yet losing weight. It's thought that she doesn't hear so well anymore. She stopped going outside often, except maybe just to hang out in the yard. I can't remember the last time she brought a baby bunny or bird into the house to play with. Most of the time these days, she's content just sitting on your lap when you're watching TV, or sitting next to you on the couch.

But, she's a good spirit. She's serene and content. She always has been a good animal to have close by because she knows when you need her comfort, and she's always ready to give it. She's loyal and sweet; well-behaved and good-natured. She's a good, good cat. She's family.

And, I call to check up on her multiple times a day. She's a fighter. She knows how much she's loved, and she's just hanging around and enjoying her family as best she can. And she's not being left alone, even for a second. I wish I could be there to offer a few last pets. Just last Sunday, I left to catch my plane home from Thanksgiving break and she was fine and normal. But, overnight, something happened, and she started getting really sick. I'm really glad to have gotten to see her, but I hate that I had to leave. That cat has been there through a good 2/3 of my life.

All I want is for her to not feel any pain as she slips away. I know she knows how much she is loved. I'll miss her sweet spirit whenever I'm home. I think home will be lonely without her.



Friday, November 30, 2007

Gonna tie our love in a double knot 'cause these days love gets strained a lot

If you don't know how I feel about having a wedding, I'll tell you. I hate planning and I could never spend that amount of money on one day, when it'd make a great down payment on a house or paying for a year of my grad school or something that I find more useful.

That being said, I do think weddingstuff is very nice and pretty. When I stumbled upon this wedding gown, I ooohed and ahhed a lot.


Wednesday, November 28, 2007

I'm the kind of human wreckage that you love

They said they didn't want me...

Steve and I decided to donate blood during the Michigan-OSU Blood Battle a couple of weeks ago. On a Tuesday, we walked over to the Union only to be greeted with a 1.5 hour wait. So, we gave up and opted to return later. Lucky us: Thursday meant the phlebotomists would be at the freshmen dorms next to SPH.

I finished class and we headed over there only to be greeted by the long wait again. But, we were determined! We filled out our forms and waited in the grueling line. Finally, after about 30-45 minutes, we were allowed to enter into the prescreen with the nurses.

"How much do you weigh?" I passed that one! Then, she pricked my finger. Apparently my blood didn't intend on traveling the length of the tubule. She asked if I had ever been anemic, as she proceeded to test my blood in the spinny-thinger to ensure that my specimen was lame. The result: low hematocrit count! She suggested I beef up my iron and come back again some other time. It wasn't so low to be shocking to me; but just low enough that the Red Cross didn't want me.

So, I sat in a corner and waited for Steve, who was still talking to the nurse. Afer about 5-10 minutes, he warily walked toward me and said he couldn't give blood either... Turns out that when you accidentally have a needle stuck in you after it had entered into someone else, they don't want you either! Guess being a med student has its downfalls. Actually, most of being a med student sounds not-so-great to me: no sleep, constant pressure, needles being thrown into you by your patients...

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Questions of science, science and progress do not speak as loud as my heart...

People in Michigan really seem to love Coldplay. Every time I turn on the radio, I manage to hear some Coldplay. "I came along, I wrote a song for you and all the things you do, and it was called 'Yellow...'" I'm almost positive that I could choose a rap or jazz station and they would somehow integrate Coldplay into their listening.

So, I'm studying at this place on North Campus called Pierpont Commons. It's basically just a student union with a lot of really comfortable areas for studying, grabbing a bite to eat, shooting some pool, etc. I found a great spot near a guy who is such an incredible pianist that I conclude he must be a music student. Really... his fingers are flying up and down the grand piano nearby.

He started out with some Beethoven, then moved to a Chopin-era composition and ... wow. Beautiful. I couldn't have asked for better study music. So, after he finished his second extraordinary classical work, he pauses for a few seconds.... and begins playing music from Coldplay's album A Rush of Blood to the Head. He's still at it. At least he's playing "The Scientist," which always reminds me of Byrneebie, and a little bit of Moniqua.

So, now I'm singing along in my head, which isn't nearly as great for this whole "study" thing.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Ann Arbor really is beautiful.

'Cause nothing lasts forever, even cold November rain

I've been lax on my blogging lately. Many apologies.

So, it's coming up on mid-November, which means Thanksgiving holidays and my first trip home to Minnesota since August. I'm looking forward to the visit, despite its brevity. It'll be nice to see the cousins and parents, and hopefully some of the friends (if they stay in town).

I'm already gearing up for Christmas break. I found a place for Charlie to stay during my time home. He won't be happy, but it's only for two weeks, so he'll just have to deal with being locked up in a cage with other kitties surrounding him. I'm also pretty excited about the ORF pub crawl in December. I sorta miss my ultimate buddies! A2 ultimate was fun, but it just wasn't ORF!

Speaking of frisbee, Steve, Katie B and I are signing up for the late-fall league together. It'll be cold, but lots of fun to play with them. So, that starts this week and goes to Dec 19. And, yes, we play outside! I haven't decided whether or not to play winter league.

We're playing broomball through intermural sports. It's really a lot of ridiculous fun. I had to buy my own helmet though, because none of the helmets there fit my tiny head. We have yet to win a game, though if the other SPH team was sans Evan we totally would have owned them. I managed to knock Angela's broom out of her hand and send her flying accidentally last game, and I totally tried to get in Evan's way but... he just knows where to be! Whatever, it's a great time. So great that we're going to play the winter league.

SPH Case Fatality
Sarah, Steve, Andy, Josh
Mallory, Kellie, Sam, Alicia, Emily, Krishna




Last week, I had my second pathophys test of the semester. I don't think it went as well as I had hoped, mostly because I have no chemistry background so when I was answering the questions on metabolic acidosis/alkalosis, I couldn't remember exactly what happened in the kidneys. Oops! My memory tends to fail me frequently.

To celebrate finishing my pathophys test, as well as getting my final paper outline in for my genetics course, I drank myself stupid on Saturday night. (Maybe I should have put a warning before this paragraph for my mother...) Kellie and I each brought a bottle of wine with us over to Mark's house and finished them off. We were doing cartwheels outside. Turns out that the urban planning people really like us SPHers... because they're predominantly male and we're all female. I guess we've all got to branch out, and it takes a house like Mark's in order to do so.

Friday night, I went to my first hockey game ever! Well, aside from high school hockey.... Surprising, since I'm a Minnesotan. But, I never went to Stars games or Wild games, nor had I made it to a Gopher hockey game. So... we went. A big group of us. It was a blast! I was glad Sarah was there to tell me what was going on with the penalties. Also, I had just re-watched The Mighty Ducks about a week previous to the game, so my hockey knowledge was fresh.

So, grad school is still great, though they keep trying to stress me out. I look at my friends around me during test time and am really glad I am who I am... it takes a lot more than a silly examination to cause sleeplessness and unease! Take that, grad school!

I'll try to be a better blogger from now on. I must keep my few readers interested and coming back for more.

Parting Shot: Grad night out at Connor O'Neill's
Alicia, Kellie, Ali, Steve

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Let's talk about all the good things and the bad things that may be

We had a lecture on male reproduction and related disease in our pathophysiology course a couple of weeks ago. One thing we learned about was erectile dysfunction, since it's such a fad lately, and has numerous etiologies.

One of the things the lecturer pointed out was that certain drugs, like antidepressants and antihypertensives can cause ED. Then she mentioned that a lot of men refuse to take their medicines because of the effects it has on their sexual lives.

Just more proof that, to men, sex is life. Because we all know that most women, given the choice, would rather take their medications and get more accomplished, live to see their kids grow up, whatnot.

So cradle your head in your hands and breathe.

If you can do nothing else, just breathe and be where you are right now. It is one moment before the next, one foot forward before the other, and each breath in its fullest -- in and out.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Rock lobster

Happy Halloween!

We here at Michigan love to learn. We love to learn so much that we worship our TAs when they show up to our parties randomly. Here are a bunch of Epid students with our TA, so-named "Hot" Steve, situated in the middle, sans costume.

Josh, Kristin, Steve, Steve (the TA), Emily, Rebecca
Alicia, Krishna
Catherine, Sam, Marina


And, my sorority sisters, and me:

Sam, Alicia, Kellie, as alpha sigma kappa

Saturday, October 20, 2007

What made Milwaukee famous has made a loser out of me

Notes on driving to Milwaukee on a Friday afternoon.

The kiwi fruit is
too messy to eat en route;
skin and guts on me.


Friday, Chicago:
All the way through Illinois,
The traffic stands still.



Real discomfort is
holding your bladder for hours
since the freeway's jammed.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

How does it feel to be without a home, like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone?

So, the first round of midterms is almost complete and it is fall break. This is an exciting time because it means we don't have class on Monday or Tuesday. Not only that, but my one Wednesday class was canceled. Also, my parents are here to visit.

Our pathophysiology exam was exceptionally difficult. It wouldn't have been so bad, except that the teacher threw a handful of questions on the test that a) he didn't cover in lecture, b) were not on the PPT slide handouts, and c) were not in the book. So, I guess if you're a good guesser, you're lucky.

Our biostats exam wasn't bad though. We got to bring a cheat sheet of equations into the test. This was a great idea!!! Even better would have been had I actually put all of the equations on the sheet. I missed a few very important equations, so I made them up. Unfortunately, I looked them up later and I was slightly wrong about where the parentheses should have gone, or something, so I have the wrong answer. Whoops....

So, to celebrate being done with exams, the usual folks and I went out bowling and drinking on Thursday night. I was excited about the idea of $1 long islands, until I drank one and it was arguably the worst-tasting beverage I have ever consumed. I'm not entirely sure there was any alcohol in the glass at all. If there was, it was about a splash, and the flavor was masked by Coke and an entire lemon squeezed into one 12 oz. cup. Gross, gross, gross. So, I attempted to drink a beer, which I wasn't a big fan of either. Drinking didn't matter too much -- 'twas the insanity shared and fun had by all.

Following are a few pictures from the evening...

It's possible that I just got a gutter ball...


Sam and Andy swing dancing at the lanes...


Kellie as a calendar girl...


Hello, I say!


Girlshoes.


Krishna and Steve.. I don't know...



Enough for now. Homework, ho!

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

But nothing compares to these blue and yellow, purple pills

Who knew it would be so hard to refill a darn prescription?

I went to the UHS Pharmacy and gave them copies of all of my prescriptions the other day, only for them to tell me that a copy is not good enough. I could come back with my old prescription and have them fill it.

Instead, I opted to call them this morning. The somewhat disgruntled pharmacy employee told me that he would call my home pharmacy in Minnesota and transfer the prescription over to them, and it would cost an extra $1 to process the order. Fine. Do it.

So, I check my messages after I get back from running only to find out that, for some reason, my prescription doesn't actually have any refills on it, despite the fact that I was just into the doctor a few months ago and asked her to refill it for another yer, which she agreed to do.

Next thing: call Fairview pharmacy. They told me that, yes, they don't have that prescription information either. So I had to call the clinic. They tell me that my nurse practitioner isn't in today so they can talk to her tomorrow, but they'd leave a note with the triage nurse and see if she can do something for me.

Seriously, I was just in the doctor three months ago! She was supposed to renew my prescription to save me from this hassle. *sigh* It's never that easy!

So, I await a phone call from Fairview in hopes that they can straighten everything out so that I can have my prescription by the weekend. My fingers are crossed. I love the run around of large institutions, where nothing ever takes less than 7 phone calls in order to reach someone who can really help you.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

One thing that is super awesome is when it's 2:30 in the morning and you've just finished an assignment and are ready for bed... then you realized that you left your clothes in the washer many hours ago and forgot to switch them to the drier. So, you run to the basement, throw your clothes in the drier, and are stuck staying awake for another hour to finish them. Lucky, I had time to read about glycolosis and catch up a little in pathophysiology during that hour, I guess!

On an unrelated note, here's a picture of one of my closest friends -- a half Jewish, half Greek girl who spent her last half a decade roaming the streets of NYC, then came to Michigan to introduce me to the wonders of ruggelach (a chocolatey bread). Drumroll please... Meet Sam.


Samantha and Alicia (at Mitch's on South U)

(Not the greatest picture of either of us... But, there will be more.)

Monday, September 24, 2007

Don't go chasin' waterfalls, please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to...

Since my tank was just above half-full, I decided to stop at the gas station for the first time since B left (about a month ago). I don't use much gas, it seems, which I enjoy.

Upon putting all of six gallons into the tank to top it off, I checked my tire pressure near the air pump when I hear a, "Hey, are you from Minneapolis?" This guy pointed to my license plate and the conversation began. He discussed the bridge catastrophe, and how his relatives are up there, etc.

I was in Michigan, moving my stuff into my apartment when it happened. It was so surreal, watching CNN and realizing that those places where places I used to drive and walk and bike (River Road). Then being back in the Cities for a week or so afterward, with detours around town everywhere, made it more obvious how inconvenient it would be. Though the tragedies were quite sad, I was amazed that only a few people died. That bridge is probably one of the busiest roads in the Twin Cities, and no one enjoys rush hour on 35W anyway!

I almost forget about it, being away from home, but it seems that's what we're known for now. First it was lakes, then the Mall of America... now, Minnesota is the state where the bridge collapsed. Bravo, MNDOT! Our state now has a reputation to be proud of.

Another link to news that reminds people of Minnesota was brought up by one of my fellow frisbee players, who mentioned the little girl whose intestines got sucked out by the pool drain earlier this summer.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

But after my dreaded beheading, I tied that sucker back on with a string. And I guess I'm pretty different, considering.

There are very few guys in the School of Public Health. In fact, they constitute 25% of the School, and 20% of the Epidemiology department specifically.

Here are the two who annoy hang out with Kellie and me the most: Krishna the Killer, and Steve Doogie Howser, M.D.

Smiling for the camera...


More their natural selves...

Everybody wants to rule the world...

Thursdays night was a Lish-treat night. I bought myself a ticket to see The Bad Plus at The Ark because they're really awesome. I thought it'd be a nice reminder of home, since the drummer is from Minneapolis and is a member of a couple other groups in the area (i.e. Happy Apple, Halloween Alaska). Also, I will always think of my parents when I hear those guys because we experienced them the first time at the Montreal Jazz Fest a number of years back when they opened up for my absolute favorite sax player, Joshua Redman.

It really was a fabulous show, complete with a lot of tunes from their latest CD, Prog. I was a little upset that they didn't play "1980 World Champion," but they did a lot of other great ones, like "Giant,""Physical Cities," "Anthem for the Earnest," and lots of other phenomenal tunes I guess I should feel privileged though, since they played "1980 World Champion" for us back at The Dakota before their new CD was even out. So, I was there for the sneak preview of that earlier this year.

Anyway, I'm pretty awesome, so I will end this entry with two photos... One of me with The Bad Plus after the show, and the other is my signed CD.


Alicia, Dave, Ethan, Reid


The disc.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Fun, fun, fun, 'til your daddy takes the T-Bird Away

Something at which all graduate students in the School of Public Health seem to excel is the fine art of procrastination. This is not a new skill of mine, thus I have it perfected maybe beyond the abilities of others. The one person I have met thus far who can trump me in this marvelous skill is my buddy the medical student, who's here for a year to quick get an MPH in the middle of his attempts at getting an MD. I'm not positive that he has opened a book yet. Lucky for him, it doesn't seem to matter. I am subsurfacing along with the rest of my fellow SPHers, hoping the wave doesn't come to pull me under.

As I may have mentioned previously, classes aren't necessarily easy. They're not hard yet, but they're not easy. Epidemiology seems straightforward and logical, thus it's a matter of learning the terminology to survive. Also, it appears that the professor has this crazy expectation of us to be academic track athletes, thus giving us about 2 minutes to complete approximately 1,000 essay questions on a test. This is the rumor I've heard, being that apparently only one person actually finished the final last year.

My latest news is attempting to find a research lab to work in for the duration of this year, the summer, and next year. It would be ideal to get a GSRA position, where at least part of tuition is paid, however this seems to be a difficult task. Thus far, I've sent out two emails total and have heard back from one -- a study on genetics and bipolar disorder. They, unfortunately, do not have the funds to offer a GSRA position, but that's okay.

I'm currently working for an OB, though I haven't gotten really into the job quite yet. I completely my training modules and recently started to go through the data collected so far to see how much I understand of it. I will have to see how the lab-thing fits into my schedule though, since that's more important and necessary to graduate than working for this OB. It is, however, a very interesting project and I'd like to be involved with it.

But, back to wasting time (which I'm doing right now, since I have an hour before class begins and only one assignment to work on in that time)... There are a lot of neat things to get involved in here. Some of my friends and I are thinking about trying to go to the swing dancing lessons at the Union sometime, as well as participate in things like drinking sangria on the porch at Dominick's some Thursday nights.

There are also a lot of neat lectures and symposiums to attend. i.e. I decided that I may want to add an environmental concentration to my epidemiology degree after I attended a lecture by this world renowned Australian epidemiologist on the environmental effects on health. I'm currently looking into more EHS classes to add to my schedule for next fall... being that I don't exactly have a lot of elective space otherwise!

I'm getting plenty done though, despite my occasional preoccupation with fun and laziness. It's a lot of reading though, and memorization isn't my strong suit, so it's going to be a lot more work for me than for some others here. That's what the weekend is for though, right? A lot of reading....? Mom, maybe I need you to call and yell at me to get to work like I'm in junior high.

Really, though, I love it here. It's so interesting to meet people, whose lives and stories have taken them so many places, and whose ideas are jumbled with experiences I've never even contemplated.

The latest idea though... Girls backpacking trip through SE Asia, South America, or Eastern Europe after graduation in 2009. Maybe we can help with the health of the populations we encounter while we're there.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Wild thing, you make my heart sing...

The following outline two encounters with Michigan's most feared beasts...

1.
It was a Wednesday. Our garbage can was full so I opted to play "good roommate" and take out the trash as I was leaving for class. I've got my backpack on, my M-Card out, and I grab the trash bag and tie it tightly shut.
I walk down to the dumpster and open the lid, taking note that the previous day must have been garbage day as there are only a few bags in the dumpster. I throw it in and I realize (DUM, DUM, DUMMMMMMM).... One of the bags is actually a sleeping raccoon, awaiting his nighttime climb up our cherry tree.
I barely missed the raccoon with the bag I chucked in, so I booked it away from the trash. You just don't know about those things.

2.
(And this one is even more horrific.)
It's 2:30 am and Kellie and I are returning home from seeing a midnight showing of Snatch at the State. We are walking up the stairs and I notice a shadow flying above us. I think to myself that there's a very large insect up there. Is it a moth's shadow cast by the hallways lights. I realize that it's much bigger. And far faster. It must be a bird. No, no... a bat.

I inform Kellie of this, as she's directly in front of me on the stairs; she flips out. We run down the stairs and out the door. BY this time, Kell is basically hyperventilating. Our neighbor from across the hall is just arriving home for the evening, too, so we tell her of the unfortunate animal events.

Our apartment building is designed so that there are 4 units on each floor, and a connecting set of double doors that lead to the next building over, where there are 4 more units, connected to 4 more, etc. So, we decide to go through the other building so we can watch the bat through the doors. We start to devise plans to get to our apartments. I run downstairs to at least open the door to the outside, in case the bat decides to fly downstairs and can then get out. I even sat outside, jingling my keys in hopes that the high pitched noise would draw it toward me.
After a few minutes of no luck, I go back upstairs, having left the door propped open downstairs. However, I'm worried about raccoons running into our building, too!
So, here we have a physics PhD candidate, and two MPH candidates sitting outside the doors trying to brainstorm how to get to our apartments, 15 feet away, without having the bat swoop in our faces as we're unlocking the doors. The only thing we think is to call the emergency maintenance phone number, where the guy isn't really happy to hear from us at 2:30 am, but ready to drive 45 minutes over to our building to save us. Of course, we don't want to sit in the hallway for 45 minutes waiting...

We decide to stay quiet for a while. The sound of our voices seemed to draw the bat toward us, and it was constantly swooping at us, on the other side of the doors. I even came up with the selfish idea to draw the bat to the other side of the double doors so it was no longer our problem.
After many minutes of watching and hoping it would fly downstairs and out the door, we finally realize that we don't see it swooping around it's path. So, we get our keys out and parade down the hallway, hunched over, and hurriedly unlock our apartment.

Kellie, scared as she was, decides to conquer her bat fears by walking downstairs to ensure she didn't see it. She closed the outside door (so the scary raccoons didn't march in and take over), and ran back upstairs, hood pulled tightly over her head to protect her of the "just in case" potential.


And that's how we conquered our bat tonight... in fear, and with luck.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Hail to the victors, valiant.

We shut out Notre Dame, 38-0. It's about time we won a game this year! This was the first Saturday I was actually proud to sport my Michigan apparel. Let me say that neither Michigan nor Notre Dame have any sort of passing game at all. We lucked out and managed to use our rushing game to get ahead.

We'll see what happens next weekend, during our first Big 10 game....

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Sail on silvergirl, sail on by

I was born and raised around the Mississippi River. Aside from my brief stint in The Concrete Ranch (our apartment in Crystal, MN), I've pretty much always lived within walking distance of it.

Well, A2 doesn't have anything close to the Mississippi, nor does it have chains of lakes. So, I'll just have to settle for the Huron River and Traver Creek for the next couple of years. Le sigh.

Huron River

Monday, September 10, 2007

They said get back honky cat, better get back to the woods

In random news, my cat's new favorite food is yogurt -- fruity, delicious yogurt. Every time one of us is eating a container of yogurt, he comes begging...

Sunday, September 9, 2007

Eight days a week...

The first week of school has come and gone, along with our second Michigan football loss. Since football is so big in Michigan, I did get season tickets, and will be observing all of their losses from the stands, and hopefully some wins too.

The week started out bright and early in biostatistics class, at 8:00 am on Tuesday, where I found my buddies Steve and Krishna to hang out with. It turned out that attending class was fairly useless as a) we discussed ultra basic statistics, and b) we couldn't actually understand much of what our professor said because i) his mic was really quiet, and ii) he spoke with a very heavy accent. Honestly, I think the volume was the biggest of his issues.

After sitting through two hours of biostats, I remained in my same seat for an hour and a half epidemiology lecture by our Maltese professor, Dr. Sandro Galea. He is really awesome, and has a very weird Mediterranean-Canadian English accent. It's actually pretty cute, and the class will be pretty awesome.

After epid, we had an ice cream social, complete with Washtenaw Dairy ice cream and homemade treats: cookies, raspberry cheesecake bars, brownies, etc. It was a pretty sugary lunch. Post-lunch, I ran over to Steve&Barry's to grab a Michigan tee-shirt, since I had to borrow one from Kellie for the previous Saturday's football loss. I only had a sweatshirt.

Post-shopping, I ran to my health management and policy class, entitled "Issues in Public Health Genetics." It's a class mixed with second years, since our class has to take our genetics concentration classes out of order due to a professor being on sabbatical. But, a lot of my friends are in the course, including my favorite second year buddy, Katie, who taught me the ropes at Michigan back in March and swayed my decision-making.

After HMP, I met a new girl named Sam. I'll admit, she's pretty cool, plus she's in almost all of my classes. She's from NYC, and we've already decided to attend some of the Michigan gymnastics meets together. So, we bonded instantly.

Kellie, Krishna, and I went to the bookstore later to see what books we could buy and, by that time (something like 6:00), all I had eaten was sugar and junk food so I was famished!!! We stopped by Jimmy John's and Kell and I headed home.

So, that's pretty much how my Tuesdays and Thursdays are. Start class at 8, straight until 11:30, break for a couple of hours, then get done at 4:30 on Tuesdays and 6:00 on Thursdays. Though, Ashley and I found out that we can do our stats lab outside of the actual lab time, meaning that we don't actually have to attend our 5-6 pm lab on Thursdays, except for handing in homework.

My Mondays and Wednesdays are pretty awesome because I only have one class, from 1-2:30. It's called "Pathophysiology." Intense, yes. I'm not sure I understood much that the professor was talking about on the first day, since I've never before taken a biochemistry class. However, it sounds like I can still pass... Plus, it seems that it'll be a pretty interesting course, encompassing anatomy, physiology, psychology, biochemistry, etc... Lastly, the professor is incredible. He's this black man with a heavy British accent and an affection for good ice cream and classical music. So, he's my fave.

Fridays, are great because I only have class SOMETIMES, and only for an hour... and lunch is provided. It's the independent study course required for my department, and a lot of it is chatting about our capstone project, or watching presentations of second year students.

I did get a job though, to fill up any free time I may find. As I may have previously mentioned, I'm working for an OB/GYN who does research on stillbirth and perinatal deaths -- from how mothers view their care to mental illness and its potential effect on said deaths. It sounds quite interesting. I haven't even begun to get into it though. The coolest thing is that I had to get a new Michigan ID badge, allowing me around the hospital complex.

Outside of academics, I've formed a nice group of friends that's always expanding. On Thursday night, we had an epidemiology outing at this bar on South University called Mitch's. Afterward, a few of us wandered around South U for a while before attempting to find the bus back to Northwoods, since I had parked at Sam's.

Friday was Catherine's birthday, so a bunch of us went to Arbor Brewing Company for dinner to celebrate, then followed up with hanging out at Connor O'Neill's. I met some new people there, mostly from the HMP department.

Saturday was a tailgate at Krishna's, then an awful and embarrassing football game. After the game, a few of my friends and I grabbed some coffee together and hung out.

Then, today, I ran some errands and went to a departmental picnic, filled with veggie burgers, swinging, and gymnastics on the lawn with Sam (don't worry, Mom, I didn't sprain my ankle this time...).

One thing I've noticed about the people I'm meeting is that a) they still fit in boxes -- i.e. there are the people you can tell were the popular girls, the ones who are more geeky and introverted, etc., and b) the conversations and senses of humor (ranging from sarcastic to silly) are all really interesting. We all are here for the same thing, which means we have similar interests, so we can switch conversation from a topic like "movies" to "health" fairly quickly. But, we're also getting to the point to start trusting each other with more personal things. The evolution of friendship is interesting to watch and experience. Also, because we're all here from places around the globe, we bond, at least at a superficial level, fairly quickly. Despite seeing that people may still be in their socially constricting boxes, we step out of them and reach out to people who may have never been our friends ten years ago, because of different outlooks on life or whatnot.

So, tonight is Sunday, meaning that I should get some work done and do any catching up I may need. However, first, I'm setting my new printer up!

Monday, September 3, 2007

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end

Labor Day. We're trained to understand that it's the end of fun, and the beginning of many months of hard work, studying, and buckling down. It starts when we're 4 or 5, and maybe ends when our own children are grown up and out of school. It's a day of BBQs, the final day of the Minnesota State Fair, the "Day of Rest" without religion associated. It's the last day of wearing white without being glared at by the fashionistas. It's the end of the beginning of the end of the beginning. Or maybe vice versa.

Tomorrow is the start of school -- busy with new faces and places. Beginning the journey through the next two important years of my life. Waking up early, studying hard(ly?), and learning exciting things that will hopefully take me to far off places in life.

But, anyway, that's then. This is now. And now is hot, muggy, and lazy. So, what better to do than enjoy a swim in the Traver Knoll pool, followed by a BBQ at Katie B's place in Northwoods. This fit of laze follows an extreme Sunday, spent eating ice cream at the Washtenaw Dairy with Mallory, Kellie, and Emily, followed by a jaunt down Main Street where the "Dancin' in the Streets" festival was going on (complete with little kids in flamenco costumes, and rigid white guys learning to belly dance), a drink at the Arbor Brewery, a presentation of Shakespeare's The Tempest performed in Nichols Arboretum, and later night pizza at Cottage Inn on William.

It's a rough life these days. I bet it only gets easier starting tomorrow with Biostats at 8 am, followed by Intro to Epid, and ice cream social, and my policy class on Issues in Public Health Genetics....

Of course, I still have to buy books, find a summer research project and that sort of thing. But, at least I found a work-study job. One thing's off the checklist.

On a completely irrelevant note, this, here, is a number geek's paradise.

Saturday, September 1, 2007

Illusion never changed into something real

It's been called "the biggest upset in college sports history."
And I was there. 20th row. Right in back of the end zone. I watched Michigan lose to a lower division team from the boonies in North Carolina.
Along with 109,000+ other spectators, I sat in the Big House, cheering "Go Blue," trying to follow along with the rouser, and watched Michigan lose... I'll spare the details, but it was horrible playing, bad decision-making,

Friday, August 31, 2007

Hoes in different area codes

As I've mentioned previously, my new friends are from around this entire country -- Alaska and LA to Albany and Atlanta. So, I get these random numbers popping up on my cell phone all the time with crazy area codes. I never know whether to answer or not because my general method is to never answer for other area codes in case it's a telemarketer or phone survey or something.

I'm so thrown off with my 616s and 585s now...

All the honies who makin' money, throw your hands up at me

I went in for my biostat exemption exam today. I have to say, I was a little rusty. Thing is, I think I rocked the harder questions on regression, and screwed up this theoretical question on the binomial distribution. Who does that?

The exam took the full two hours and was offered at the same time as the algebra placement and epid exemption exams. I think it was just we biostat kids who were left when time ran out. It was tough and my madd krazy statistikal skillz are rusty.

So, after the exam, I grabbed lunch in the SPH cafeteria to check it out. I got a veggie burger and cookies for all of $4.75. My kinda food at my kinda prices. I chatted with the guy who coordinates the interdepartmental concentrations a little bit. He's a really nice guy and I dig him because he wears his mustache the fu manchu type style. I think that's what it is. It's very hip, whatever it is. And he's really cool with all of us students.

After lunch, I went over to meet with this OB/GYN. I was supposed to meet with her last Friday but got stood up since she ended up having to bring her kid into the ER. I guess that's a tolerable excuse. She was really cool. We ended up having our interview outside, since it's gorgeous out and the building she's in is pretty small without too many open rooms.

So, we chatted about what she does and what I'm interested in and what I can do and... just like that, she offered me a job! Now, mind you, student jobs don't pay that much and some of them are limited to work study funds only, which are made available by the financial aid folks, but it's a job... And an interesting one, at that.

Katy, the doctor I'd be working for, is doing research on how mental illnesses (like depression) can influences stillbirths and infant mortality. Obviously, the opposite is true (infant mortality can influence the mother's mental state), but Katy is looking at the opposite. She's also looking at patient care and disparities, and how that may influence infant mortality.

Cool. So, I am going to email her my schedule and hook it up. I probably will only work about 10 hours a week or so, but I think it'll be really interesting stuff!

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Life's a football game, as every chump and champ knows

I've almost made it through my "pre-school week," which, judging by my daily naps and cookies, may be similar to a preschool week. The only thing missing is story time.

Today was a long day of orientation. It started out with a small continental breakfast, where I was introduced to even more SPH students, including two of the twenty-one males in the incoming epidemiology class. Turns out our breakdown is 79% female in epi this year, so the guys really do stick out, as they do across all of the PH disciplines.

The morning session was a really great talk about UMich and the future of public health, given by the dean, as well as a faculty panel about how the different public health professions intertwine to create a working research project. My favorite was the biostats professor who had a Powerpoint presentation including graphs with messy data on them, and discussed cleaning up the data. Her final slide was two lemonade glasses cheering each other (when life gives you lemons...).

Other things I learned today: incoming SPH students hail from 41 states and 10(?) countries, aside from Michigan. And about 75% of SPH students are female; though 79% of epid students are female and 64% of health public policy students are.

After the morning session, we had an epidemiology informational session, which was pretty straight forward, followed by lunch and a SPH activity/job/internship fair. Unfortunately, we didn't get to look around much at the fair because my HME (hospital & molecular epi) group met right away at 1, followed by my genetics IC group, to talk generally about what courses to take.

The difficult issue with my program is that a lot of professors seem to be on sabbatical this year, meaning that there are a few courses that we'd normally get to take this year that we have to squeeze in next year. Scheduling is kind of messy because of this. For one, we're now required to take a course this semester in my genetics IC for which we'd normally need prereqs.

There's one girl in epi that I really like a lot. She's younger, but she's very sweet and always around. She seems to know everyone, too. She's started getting people together every so often. I guess the weird thing about meeting new people is that it's hard to judge their comfort zones immediately upon meeting them. What I mean by this is that she's the type of girl who can walk up and give you a hug when she barely knows you. I'm pretty awkward about that until I know someone really well.

The big news of this coming weekend is the first Wolverines football game of the season. Kellie and I still need to figure out how we're going to get up to the stadium, but I'm sure it'll be fine. I'll have to find something blue and maize to wear, to cheer them on. It's against Appalachian State, which I'd guess is somewhere in North Carolina or something, but I've never heard of it. I'm guessing it's not a big rivalry like the upcoming OSU game in November, but I'm sure it'll still be a crazy time.

I'm home alone currently and enjoying it. The extreme socializing this week has been wreaking havoc on this introvert and tiring me out. I'm going to make myself some dinner and look at some stats and veg out for the night until Kellie gets home.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

When Irish eyes are smilin', sure it

This week has been "Academic Preview" week. Basically, we get good food and see what else goes on at the University, in and outside SPH. Computer classes on PubMed and Excel are offered, and we get to meet a lot of people from our programs.

A few stats. By my eye, SPH is about 117% women. The remainder -17% are men. I guess that means that all the men have graduated. (Keep in mind, my eyesight isn't the greatest.) Though that's not completely true, I always giggle when I'm conversing with a guy just because it's a rarity. This is quite a change from my undergrad, when I was in the math department: a minority as a woman and as a Caucasian.

Last night, we had a "mixer" at Conor O'Neills, this Irish bar on Main St. There, Team Awesome (consisting of Kellie, Jamie, Ashley, and me) rocked some current event and musical trivia. As Kellie and I closed the bar while she kicked some med student's arse at rock-paper-scissors. If you think grad students don't know how to kick it... you're probably right.

Tomorrow is the last, and shortest, day of Academic Preview and I'm supposed to hang out with one of the EHS PhD students I met the other day to drink some coffee and maybe study some stats. We really do lead exciting lives.

My attention span is running short this evening, thus I will leave you with this parting shot of a music society building on campus.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Working my way back to you, babe

Kellie and I explored the park behind our house today. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera, but there will be more time spent there at a later date, I'm sure.

Black Pond Woods Park is located on Barton and Traver Road, behind the back entrance to our parking lots. It's filled with community gardens, educational areas (science center and a nature center), toys, and many acres of wooded area with trails to get lost upon.

The first task was teaching Kellie how to hula hoop. Once we got her in a bigger hoop, she was ready to rock the hip action. After we got bored hula hooping, we took over the badminton net and hit the birdie back and forth for a while. As she yelled "Boop" and I yelled "Floop" with every hit, we found ourselves improving drastically. From there, we wandered through the pizza garden, butterfly garden, tea garden, etc. Behind the gardens, we entered the woods for a brief jaunt.

One thing that's funny is talking a walk in the woods with a South Dakotan. You know, there are virtually no trees in SD? She was adorably in awe of the wooded cover and the sun shining through.

One thing that's not funny is how they don't seem to sign trails at our park...

But, another thing that's funny is how the Black Pond is actually green with algae and a gazillion frogs.

From my extensive math training, I understand that 1-1+1 is greater than zero, and thus the park is an okay place to be.

So, we followed the trails around, thinking we'd eventually circle back to the main park building. Instead, we let out on Pontiac Trail and had to navigate our way back to our apartment. We ended up sitting by the creek for a while. Wonderful peace with my wonderful roommate.

We make plans for good times; all neon, all surface

It was a lazy day, filled with sleeping and lounging on the couch. Kellie and I finally started doing "stuff" sometime in the afternoon. I rearranged my closet, cleaned my room a bit, and hung pictures around the place to make it more cozy.

Around 9, we headed to dinner at Los Tres Amigos, this Mexican restaurant near Briarwood. It was a celebration of making it an entire week in A2. We decided we liked the restaurant because it was faster service than fast food! We walked in and ordered margaritas and they were served in about 37 seconds! Once our food order was placed, it took about 2.4 minutes before a man was delivering our cheesy goodness. The salsa was awesome and the staff spoke very little English, making it a prime Mexican restaurant.

Dos Amigas at Tres Amigos


When we got home, we watched The Jerk since K had never seen it. Lord loves a working man; don't trust whitey; see a doctor, get rid of it.

We were proud of ourselves for getting ready for bed "early..." Well, earlier than last night. So, we brushed our teeth and washed our faces.

Then came the fun part... At 2 am, we became plumbers. The toilet wasn't flushing so we took off the top of it and noticed that some part that looked as if it should be connected to something wasn't actually connected to anything. So, despite the clean water in the tank, we got our tongs out and doctored the innards of the toilet. I'll give most of the credit to Kellie, being that all I did was hold the ball up with the tongs. She reconnected the chain to the lever-thing and, voila, the toilet worked again.

So, instead of getting to bed early, we've instead decided to drop out of grad school before the start of classes, and enroll in plumbing school. It may just be our calling.

Friday, August 24, 2007

I'm walkin', yes indeed

Kellie and I decided to see how long it would take to walk from our apartment to SPH today, just in case we ever feel motivated enough in the mornings to make the trek. Forty-seven minutes. Those 47 minutes did include giving some lady directions to State Street from Plymouth Road (which took a while since we had little idea where to go), as well as waiting for a year for one of the lights to give us a walk signal. So... maybe not great for the morning commute, but also a little exaggeration for the actual time it'd take.

We walked through SPH to get a blast of AC since it was really hot outside and played with the directory before headings over to find Fletcher Street where I deposited my health forms. We hit one of the bookstores and spent forever looking at all of the Michigan apparel -- everything from scarves and sweaters to flip flops and ties.

After the bookstore, we went to Stucchi's -- this awesome little ice cream place that Jeff told me about -- for "dinner". I had a double scoop of "Texas Tea" (a blend of chocolate and fudge and tastiness) and White Russian Fudge (coffee and fudge goodness). Kellie enjoyed a double scoop of Texas Tea and this peanut butter-cheesecake flavor.

Lisha and her cone


Kellie says U Can't Touch This


After Stucchi's, we kept wandering around campus and playing around. We found the Michigan Union and escaped a torrential downpour, while exploring the delightful restaurant options available, as well as picking up interesting brochures. Once the rain subsided, we went outside to play around The Cube nearby.





We continued playing around campus, Kellie giving me her version of the Grand Tour. We walked through Angell Hall to find the "Fish Bowl" -- a huge computer lab enclosed in glass -- and giggled about how Angell and Haven Halls are connected (I dunno, it's funny...). She showed me the Diag, where you do not step on the "M" near the library or you get bad luck forever and ever times infinity. It's necessary that you walk around it, apparently. We found the Michigan League and rested our feet for a little while before grabbing the bus home.

Here I am stuck in Angell Hall. Kellie is nice enough to lend me a helping hand.


Have a great Friday evening, all. I'm so thrown off about what day it is because of this whole "unemployment" thing.

Would you leave your life and ride?

I experimented with the bus system (The Ride) this morning to get to campus for an interview for a research position with an OB/GYN. It was a slick little system. The bus stop was about a 5 minute walk from my apartment door, and I ended up waiting for the bus for about 10 minutes before hopping on for a 5 minute ride to the Medical Center. (I would have walked had I not been wearing "tall shoes," or minded being stinky.)

I found the building -- this random tiny UM building in the middle of a residential neighborhood across from the Med Center -- and wound my way up to the lady's office. Her student worker offered to help me and I mentioned my special purpose. Everything was looking up, up, up until the OB wasn't there. Yeah. Just not there. The student worker said that she hadn't seen the doctor yet today. So I left a note and went home.

I walked into our apartment's office today to add our last maintenance request (shower drain doesn't drain well) and received THREE FedEx packages. Yea! The rest of my clothes and my running shoes have made it to A2!

We're still waiting for our USPS mail to start coming to us. Apparently, the post mistress needs to deliver us keys for our mailbox before we can actually receive mail...

So, it's a hot and humid day. K and I have a few errands to run, then I might have to hit the pool!

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Old World Underground

I sent Ben home today. It definitely was not the most fun thing in the world. A note about the Detroit airport (airport code DTW) is that it is gigantic. Driving by from the interstate, you don't realize how ginormous it is. However, once you get to the complex, you have three choices of terminals, so you have to quickly look at the signs to figure out where your airline flies. The great thing about DTW is that it's only about 25 minutes away from my apartment, despite the fact that it seems like it should be much farther, AND there wasn't much traffic on the way there or home, despite it being what I would think of as "rush hour."

Sending Ben home was strange because of the brevity of the airport goodbye, since other cars want to get in to drop people off. I got a phone call from him when I was arriving back in A2 to say a more extended goodbye, and another phone call an hour later to say that his plane was delayed enough that they're now sending him on a direct flight to MSP because he would have missed his connection in Chicago, but the catch is that he had to sit around and wait until 10:30 pm. So, lucky Ben is still sitting at the airport now, hours after his plane was originally scheduled to leave.

Aside from taking Ben to the airport, the day has been pretty laid back. Kellie and I hung out around our apartment all day. The rain rolled in pretty hard around 8-ish and we sat around talking about politics and school and telling stories while watching the lightening and flash flood-like conditions. We've just now ordered pizza, at close to 10:00 pm.

The most exciting thing today: our internet is up and running finally! It was supposed to be working on Monday and I spent hours on the phone with Comcast over the week trying to get it working. Finally, Kellie called and yelled at them and they promised it'd be working by midnight. About 15 minutes after she got off the phone with them, I checked to see if it was up, and, voila!